Never As Planned
by spoodle monkey
Summary: SLASH If they'd had the time he'd have taken Zoom to the movies or a fancy restaurant or something, but they only had the diner and the date was going horribly. VertxZoom


Disclaimer: Nope, don't own.

Warnings-This is SLASH, as in two men in a relationship. If this squicks you, turn away now.

A/N- I've only seen a handful of episodes but I really like the idea of this pairing. Yes, I realize that it is all in my crazy mind, but I'm completely okay with that.

* * *

It starts off okay.

He's on time, dressed sharp and ready to go. He's even early- not that he has far to go.

He doesn't run into any of the others as he makes his way down the hallway, there are no blaring alerts, no world to be saved; maybe he'll get lucky and everything will go smoothly.

He's nervous; palms sweaty, as he knocks on the door but he manages a charming smile as it slides open.

Zoom grins at him, easy going and not nervous at all and Vert envies him that.

They walk down to the garage together, don't run into anyone (and Vert breathes a sigh of relief at this, the last thing they need is the teasing he knows that will come) and that's when things start to go downhill.

There's no way they're both going to fit in Vert's car. They end up taking Zooms bike, and while having his arms wrapped around the other mans waist isn't horrible, _he_ was the one that was supposed to be driving.

Any other time Vert would have driven hours to take Zoom somewhere nice, somewhere somewhat impressive for their first date. They don't have the luxury of time though; they always have to be ready to suit up.

They end up walking into the diner; Vert tries to hold the door open for Zoom but its met with snickers from behind them and he realizes with a sinking feeling that the rest of the team is seated at one end of the restaurant. Well, he'd wondered where they all were.

Zoom glances over at them, waves and then walks to the other side of the diner without a word.

Vert follows, panicking silently. What if Zoom wants to cut the date short now that they've been found out? What if the others decide to come over and join them?

He's so caught up in his thoughts that he manages to knock over their drinks when their meal arrives, spilling it all over the table and- Zoom.

Zoom brushes it off but Vert still tries to wipe up the mess until he realizes _where_ the pop has spilt and backs off, blushing furiously. His date ends up disappearing for about ten minutes to clean up and Vert sits there, trying to ignore the loud whispering coming from the other side of the room.

He's screwed up now; he wouldn't be surprised if Zoom just didn't come back.

He'd really wanted to make a good impression too; there was just something _different_ about him. It had the potential to reap havoc with the team but he'd been convinced it was worth it.

Zoom comes back though, sliding into the booth with a fluid movement and acting like nothing had happened.

Vert takes a breath and tries to save the date.

So he starts talking, well, talking isn't very accurate. In truth he starts rambling: about cars, about maneuvers, he even gets so desperate at one point that he starts talking about the _aliens_ they've fought.

Zoom just sits there through it, making a few comments but mostly listening with a half amused look on his face and Vert can only see this date ending one way and it's not good. A quiet Zoom is not a happy Zoom.

He keeps trying though because if he keeps talking then there won't be any awkward silences and he's horrified to realize that his mouth no longer has a filter on it when he brings up dates that he's brought girls on, brings up movies and semi-fancy restaurants and goodnight kisses he's had.

The amused look never falters from Zooms face and Vert begins to suspect that the expression is stuck there as some sort of defense from his ramblings.

At the end of the date he watches with a sinking feeling as Zoom pays for half the bill and realizes that there won't be a second date. Vert had been the one to ask, _Vert_ was the one that was supposed to pay for dinner.

As they walk by Agura gives him a thumbs up and he thinks that they must have been watching a completely different date.

Zoom waits until they reach his bike before turning back to face Vert, noticing his silence.

"Next time," He begins, smirking at Vert. "Don't try so hard. Maybe we can stay in and watch a movie or something."

Vert's stuck on the _next time_ part of the sentence, trying to figure out if maybe he heard Zoom wrong. But the other man is grinning widely at him before climbing onto the motorcycle and waiting for Vert to climb on behind.

He finally gets with the picture, his own smile breaking across his face, confused but okay with it.

When they get back home Vert walks Zoom to his door and the goodnight kiss definitely puts all the others to shame.


End file.
